Tuesday, September 27, 2016

Bulgar licked plate middle for this Mediterranean foodstuff. (6)

I was grateful to the brother-in-law who reminded me over dinner the other night to plant garlic. If the rains pass, as they're forecast to do, I'll clear a patch and manure it this afternoon, next to the neeps. The NW bed is for carrots and onions. Most of the ground there is from the heaps of earth I used for levelling, that is, far from the The Predecessor's mania for planting onions, and therefore, hopefully, less likely to be having any onion pests.

First of all, I researched the difference between hard and softnecked garlic. This gives an explanation. All of the garlic you can get in supermarkets is hardneck, and I want some of that - it does better in cold climates, apparently. And it's said to have more complex flavours though it doesn't store so well. But I want softneck, too, for the very reason that you can't get it in supermarkets. Flavour is less appealing when it's not fresh.

I could of course get lots of varieties, but I'm beginning to think it's best to get only 2 of each species of vegetable each year. Otherwise it gets confusing. So, I'm looking this year at Picardy Wight as my softneck. And Carcassonne Wight for the hardneck. Best deals, I've found on eBay, rather than the seed merchants or specialist garlic suppliers.